december 31

@ 9a | 2 cents...

This or That Tuesday

1. Stay in or go out on New Year's Eve? We've stayed in for the past few years and will continue that trend this year.
2. If you stay home, do you stay up to ring in the new year, or fall asleep earlier? Ring in the New Year!
3. If you go out, do you prefer to attend a party at someone's home, or go to a bar/nightclub/restaurant? Last year we visited friends for a dinner at their home for New Year's, this year we are having them over for dinner and celebration.
4. Make resolutions, or do you not bother? Nah, if I want to change something, I do it whenever.
5. Ever been to Times Square (New York City) on New Year's Eve, or just watched the ball drop on TV? Just watched the ball drop on TV.
6. Toast the New Year with champagne or a soft drink? Champagne.
7. Do you have a special New Year's dinner or not? My family usually does a turkey like Christmas dinner, but we always fondue on New Year's Eve.
8. Do you already have your 2003 calendar, or do you wait to buy one until the stores mark them down? Eric got a Schnauzer calendar for Christmas.
9. Take down Christmas decorations: before or after New Year's? We would do it after New Year's but we took ours down before Christmas this year because we were traveling.
10. Funny hats and noisemakers, or a quieter celebration? Noisy!

december 29

@ 5p | 2 cents...

Happy Holidays everyone! Our Christmas was bountiful and relaxing... we are halfway through our two week vacation and have greatly enjoyed catching up with friends and relatives during our holiday tour. :) Happily, it snowed on Long Island on Christmas day for the first time in over 30 years. We have attended parties, eaten too much food and and gone wine tasting to pass the time. We hope to meet up with a few Chicago-area folks for New Years, watch some bowl games (Go Dawgs!) and then make our way back to Georgia. Whew, I'm tired already. I'll try to get a few photos online before we return to GA, enjoy New Years and I'll check in again soon.

december 17

@ 2p | 2 cents...

This or That Tuesday: holidaze

1. Christmas dinner: turkey or ham (or something else)? Turkey!
2. Candy canes or chocolate? Candy canes on the tree and chocolate in my tummy.
3. Fruit basket or fruitcake? Fruit basket.
4. Mulled cider or mulled wine? Mulled cider.
5. Eggnog or hot chocolate? I love both, but you only get eggnog one time a year.
6. Holiday cookies: homemade or store-bought? My gram makes the best Christmas cookies in the world.
7. Roasting chestnuts or popping corn? Mmmm, chestnuts roasting on an open fire...
8. On the buffet table: veggie platter or cheese tray? Veggies!
9. Apple or pumpkin pie? Pumpkin pie.
10. Christmas Day breakfast: before or after gift-opening? After!

december 16

@ 12p | 2 cents...

Christmas photos are up!

Eric convinced me I needed a break from my weekend projects yesterday, so I went to the gym and worked out for an hour. Boy, did I feel better afterwards.

Does anyone else think print cartridges are insanely expensive? I had to pick up a HP 78 ink cartridge and I found myself with two choices: a "large" one for $56 or a "regular" for $35. Now, these darn things are exactly the same size - they have to be to fit into my printer. What this says to me is that they only fill the "regular" ones up halfway. This made me infuriated, but I bought the cheaper one anyway, because it seems like a crime to spend almost $60 on ONE ink cartridge.

december 13

@ 2p | 2 cents...

Looks like they have smart big city chickens in Florida. Probably can't say the same where we live.

@ 11a | 2 cents...

After my pool workout yesterday, I feel much more confident about not dying in the first leg of the triathlon in April. A half mile is just over 18 laps in a 50M pool. I swam 20 laps yesterday (mostly freestyle, some breaststroke) and I felt like I could've kept right on swimming. My lap times were consistant with only a little rest in between for the whole workout. :)

In other news, we visited two new wine places in the last week because we are completely fed up with our previous favorite. We bought a bad bottle of wine there back in September - and when I say bad, I mean the bottle was stored improperly and the wine was ruined, not just that we didn't like it. We have only heard lame excuses from the owners. Their policy (and GA law) is never to accept return of or exchange ANY bottle of wine. Essentially, if the bottle is bad, too damn bad for you. We were told that they were in contact with the distributor because the wine guy tried a different bottle and determined the entire case was bad. However, said distributor is sitting on his butt while they have to eat the cost for an entire case of bad wine. Not to mention a $13 bottle of wine we bought, opened and tossed. So we ceased shopping there on principle; called them about twice a month since, all the while becoming confident that they don't really give a damn and no GA law exists to protect the customer.

So far, the customer service at these other places has been helpful and friendly. I just hope we don't get another bad bottle of wine.

december 12

@ 2p | 2 cents...

Someone brought poinsettias by all the offices where I work, so after a quick picture, this is my new desktop!

I updated my training journal today and I am planning on hitting the pool around 4pm. One of larger projects I had to do last minute was actually sent to me in error, so I was happy for the lightened workload. I have also made significant progress on a few of my personal projects at home, so I'm beginning to feel like I may actually finish all this stuff! Meanwhile, we keep turning on the cheery Christmas music at home as soon as we walk in the door. :)

december 10

@ 10a | 2 cents...

The Charleston photos are now posted here! Just click on the region of the map for the photos we took in that area. Eric suggested that we add a few links to sites we found helpful when planning our trip, since we generally do quite a bit of online research before we go anywhere. So, starting with Charleston, you will now find a helpful links section along with our vacation photographs. :)

I have several creative projects in the pipeline at home (or on the living room floor, heh), not to mention a full load of work at work to complete before we leave for Christmas break. One of those projects is to get our Christmas photos online... coming soon, i promise.

This or That Tuesday: Christmas continued

1. Real or artificial tree? Real! This is a very big deal to us, we both prefer a real tree. Although this year was a little different from the rest.
2. Real or artificial wreath? Last year, Eric made a wreath from our dried moonflower vines. We hung it on our door this year with sprigs of rosemary, oregano and cedar from our tree... smells wonderful.
3. Open gifts on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day (or do you do another holiday such as Hannukkah)? This year, Eric and I will open our presents to each other in Georgia, probably on the 19th because we have a lot of traveling to do to visit family. Growing up, I opened one present on Christmas Eve and the rest on Christmas morning.
4. "It's A Wonderful Life" or "Miracle on 34th Street"? I've actually never seen either of these, how about Christmas Vacation?
5. Outdoor decorations, or just indoors? We live in an apartment, so we just have colored lights out on our deck.
6. "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" or "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer"? You better watch out, you better not cry, you better not pout, I'm tellin' you why... Santa Claus is coming to town!
7. Miniature lights or the larger ones? Mini white lights on the tree.
8. Store-bought or hand-made ornaments? Both. I have been handmaking a few ornaments a year for ourselves and as presents for the last two years. And I just love the macaroni ornaments I made in grade school.
9. TV Specials: The Grinch or Charlie Brown? We own The Grinch on DVD, but there will always be a special place in my heart for that poor little Christmas tree.
10. Will you be staying at home for the holiday, or going visiting? Visiting Chicago and Long Island.

december 5

@ 11a | 2 cents...

The Thanksgiving photos are up!

I made some granola last night (rolled oats, pecans, almonds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, honey, coconut, walnut oil - mix, spread on cookie sheet and turn every 10 minutes in 325 degree oven until brown then add craisins and store in airtight container), and we finished writing and addressing our Christmas cards, so they will go out this week. I have alot of things to do at work lately, and my days are been flying by... then I get home and tackle entirely different projects. At this rate, Christmas will be here before I know it! :)

BTW, the ice storm mostly missed us. No University closing day off for me.

december 4

@ 10a | 2 cents...

We finished up most of our Christmas shopping last night and while I was working on the Charleston and Thanksgiving photos (and watching 24 & NYPD Blue), Eric finished decorating the Christmas tree. The tree looks beautiful, but we are never getting a "southern" tree again. On Sunday, we went to Drury's tree farm to cut down our own tree, but they don't have the douglas firs us northerners are used to, so we got a perfectly shaped 6' red cedar instead. I cannot even describe to you the frustration of trying to get this tree home in my little Saturn, then having it not fit correctly in our tree stand. In all, it took us almost 4 hours to prepare the tree for decorating. And, I have a monster list of things to finish before we drive to Chicago in 2.5 weeks... ugh.

december 3

@ 11a | 2 cents...

This or That Tuesday: gift shopping!

1. Go out and buy gifts, or shop online/mail order? Online mostly, but we have picked up a few gifts in mortar stores.
2. Gift cards/certificates or pick out gifts? We pick out gifts, I enjoy receiving gift certificates but I don't really like giving them.
3. Pay cash or charge holiday gifts? We charge everything.
4. Are most of your gifts mailed or given in person? I try to give all my gifts in person; I like to see people's reactions.
5. Are you an early-bird or last-minute holiday shopper? In between. We seem to do most of our shopping all at once about 4-6 weeks before Christmas, but there always seem to be a few last minute purchases.
6. If you shop in stores...big chain stores or smaller specialty stores? Usually big chain stores, but I visit the occasional smaller store if I am looking for something specific.
7. Wrap gifts yourself or have them wrapped at the store or mall? Although I am not very good at it, I wrap everything myself.
8. Shopping on *Black Friday* (day after Thanksgiving)...did you or didn't you? We were in Charleston this year, but no holiday shopping took place on Friday.
9. Is your holiday gift list large or small? I think about average, I only buy gifts for my family and close friends (about 15 people), and I try to get a few gifts per person.
10. Is it better to give or to receive? Give! :)